Lac La Belle village board approves merger with Town of Oconomowoc 1 week after heated public hearing

LAC LA BELLE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The Village of Lac La Belle officially approved a plan to merge with the Town of Oconomowoc on Wednesday night, Nov. 20. 

The village board's unanimous vote comes one week after hundreds of people from both communities spoke out for and against the plan.

It was a unanimous 4-0 vote in Lac La Belle, but there was one abstention from trustee Mark Wille, who expressed concern the current, much smaller, Lac La Belle will be overwhelmed by the larger Town of Oconomowoc when the agreement goes into effect.

Leaders in both communities have said this merger is inevitable to better provide services.

On Tuesday night, Nov. 19, Oconomowoc town supervisors unanimously approved the intergovernmental cooperation agreement.

The next night, it was Lac La Belle's turn.

The two votes follow a heated public hearing last week where hundreds of people turned out to speak about the plan.

The agreement means people currently living in the Town of Oconomowoc will pay slightly more in taxes, and people in Lac La Belle will pay slightly less.

Most Lac La Belle trustees were on board with the merger, but trustee Mark Wille did express some concern about being left behind by their larger neighbor.

Wille asked, "Who says the town is going to worry about the village?"

Trustee Rich Allen responded, "Well, I think they already are, Mark. The town is already paying attention to issues of the village. And I think we enacted some appropriate measures this past year and seen a demonstrable improvement."

This agreement means the Lac La Belle village board will eventually be dissolved, but trustees will serve on Town of Oconomowoc committees.

Both communities will continue to approve individual budgets for 2025, then combine into one budget for 2026.